Congratulations Class of 2013 Graduates!

The end of Moraine Park’s spring semester was filled with many events—some of the most exciting being graduation ceremonies! This year at commencement more than 300 students walked across the stage to receive their degrees and become new Moraine Park alumni. It was great to see students’ friends, families and Moraine Park staff there to celebrate this exciting, culminating event. Each of the nearly 900 students that completed their degrees should be proud of their great accomplishment.

It was an honor to introduce this year’s commencement speaker, Jim Wessing, president and co-founder of Kondex Corp. Jim’s optimistic speech gave students great advice for their future careers. During his speech Jim spoke about the strong demand for technical skills and how now is a wonderful time to be graduating. I couldn’t agree with him more. 

Commencement 2013

Commencement wasn’t the only ceremony I had the pleasure of attending. On May 31, on our Beaver Dam Campus, I had the opportunity to present diplomas to eleven future welders.  These students were part of the new welding skills academy, or boot camps. To be accepted into the program students had to go through a rigorous testing and interview process with both Moraine Park staff and with employers, in order to obtain a welding internship with one of the boot camp business partners.  This is the fourth boot camp graduation since January, it is the second group of Welding Boot Camp graduates, and it is the first group of students who completed the program as part of the U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant.  I know that all Moraine Park faculty and staff are very proud of these students and we thank them for their commitment to the program.

Welding Boot Camp Graduation

I also had the privilege of attending the General Education Development (GED) and High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) graduation on June 13 at our Fond du Lac Campus. This year, Moraine Park faculty and staff worked with more than  300 students to help them achieve their goal of earning  their HSED/ GED certificates, and nearly 60 of those students participated in the ceremony.  Listening to the student speakers share their stories was very inspiring.  I wish each of the GED/HSED graduates the best as they pursue new opportunities.

Moraine Park’s 13^th Annual GED/HSED Graduation Ceremony

Congratulations again to all the Moraine Park graduates. If you were a part of any of these events and would like to share your experience, please send me a note. I’d love to hear from you.

Have a safe and relaxing summer! 

A Year in Review

It’s been over one year since my adventure as Moraine Park President began. It was an exciting start with meeting students on our Beaver Dam, Fond du Lac and West Bend campuses during the welcome lunches and mascot reveal. I attended Student Senate meetings to see what our student leaders had planned for the semester ahead and welcomed new students, and learned my way around a bit better,  as a semester greeter. As the fall semester continued, one of my main focuses was on business and industry partnerships. I visited organizations around our district, learning what skills are needed for our graduates to be hired, how we can strengthen our programs to meet business and industry needs, and other ways to improve the pipeline between Moraine Park and our business partners.

My first year was also the kickoff to Moraine Park’s Centennial Celebration, and it has been great fun taking part in the many Centennial activities that have taken place.  It has also been interesting looking back at historical documents and photos and learning about the roots of our College and how it has grown into the educational leader it is today. While so much has changed over the past 100 years, it’s wonderful to see that our focus on student success and hands-on, applicable learning still remain a key focus for our staff and faculty.

Attending my first Student Awards Banquet, Moraine Park Commencement ceremony, and GED graduation was especially an honor. Addressing the class of 2012 and their family and friends on that special day was a wonderful experience. I was so proud of their accomplishments and look forward to learning where their Moraine Park education takes them.

This summer, Moraine Park received exciting news that we were one of just five recipients of the Wisconsin Workforce Partnership Grant from the Wisconsin Covenant Foundation Inc. Governor Scott Walker visited our Fond du Lac Campus to share the news with our staff and industry partners. The grant will help establish Manufacturing Skills Academies for both machine operation and welding training in a 15-week boot camp format.

As Moraine Park’s centennial year, and my first year, come to an end, I look forward to the year ahead. We have so much to be proud of here at MPTC and we will continue to instill in our students “if you believe it you can achieve it!”  We have  new programs getting underway, facilities upgrades taking place and continued conversations about ways to prepare our students with relevant training for today’s workforce. Thank you for staying connected over the past year by keeping up with my blog. I look forward to sharing with you the new adventures for 2012-13!